Dr. Edward Garcia, who has been a veterinarian 50 years, checks a patient.

Dr. Edward Garcia is a satisfied man.

All the 79-year-old veterinarian wants to do is keep treating the sick and injured pets in Denver’s Sunnyside neighborhood for as long as he can.

“It sounds crazy, but it’s what makes me feel good,” Garcia says. “I enjoy practicing more now than when I first started.”

Sunnyside is one of the most economically depressed areas in the city and Garcia has given away thousands of dollars in free care to low-income people unable to pay fully, or at all. His daughter, Teresa, puts the figure at $40,000 a year.

People have flocked to him, she says. Some call him “The Patron Saint of Pets”. He certainly looks the part, with a shock of gray hair and matching beard, and a silver crucifix hanging around his neck.Read more…

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Dr. Rhea Dodd teaches dogs to have the confidence to stay calm when left home alone.

It turns out that whether a dog displays separation anxiety or not depends on whether the canine has an optimistic or pessimistic take on life.

That, at least, is the finding of a new British study that tries to shed more light on the condition that owners have come to know and loathe: anxiety-ridden, noisy dogs that cause various types of destruction when left home alone.

Researchers at the University of Bristol in Great Britain produced the study, which was published in the Oct. 12 issue of Current Biology, by following the behavior of 24 shelter dogs.

In step one, the researchers took each of the dogs to rooms and played with them for 20 minutes. The next day, they took the dogs back to the rooms and left them alone, according to an article in HealthDay News.Read more…

The foundation, a nonprofit arm of trade organizations representing the state’s veterinarians, sponsors the program to underscore the human/animal bond – and especically acts of heroism and service.

Cosmo is a hearing assistance dog for Jody Adleman, who lives in the Boulder area. He alerts her to people, cars, household appliance timers and other potential risks. He also serves as a fulltime companion.

As Felicia Diamond talks on the phone in her rambling Denver home, she swears she smells the odor of pet food.

No surprise here. The animal lover always has dogs around. And she may even see pet food in her dreams these days. The Furry Friends Food Drive is at it again.

Last year, Diamond sparked the inaugural Furry Friends drive after watching a television program about financially devastated pet owners around the country having to give up their animals to shelters because they could no longer afford to feed or care for them.

She rounded up some friends and launched a drive that collected 160,000 pounds of food for all types of pets and $11,000 in cash donations.

This year’s goal? To double the 2009 totals.

“During a challenging economy, pets need a little help as well as the families that love them,” Diamond says.

Donating to Furry Friends is “an easy thing to do,” she adds.Read more…

Fetch takes a topical look at a variety of issues affecting pets, including the latest research results.. It seeks to provide useful information for Colorado pet owners and to spotlight the work of Colorado animal welfare groups.